Some 12 pigs were killed in Balilihan town in what has been the second reported fatal attack on multiple livestock in the province this month.
Balilihan Municipal Agriculture Officer Maria Corazon Oñes said three adult pigs and nine piglets were found dead with multiple bite marks of varying severity at a private pig pen in Barangay Del Carmen Este on Wednesday morning.
“Naay mga samad, naay kinitkitan, kinan-an unya naay usa ka baboy a mura’g iyang left side nakabhak,” said Oñes.
The municipal officer believes the attack happened on Tuesday night.
The pigs were kept beside the house of the owner, Vieto Lim, who was not home during the incident and only saw the lifeless hogs on Wednesday morning.
“Ang tag-iya didto sa Tagbilaran ning higda unya ang silingan nila nakadungog og sinngit sa baboy na kusog kaayo na mura’g giihaw pagkagabii so mao na to gitawgan sa silingan ag tag-iya,” said Oñes.
She said the attack may have been carried out by wild animals but they could not determine what these were.
“Posibli adto mga wild animals gyud, kanang mga tinggawong, kanang mo gawas og mga gabii ra,” she said.
The town’s veterinary office is also looking into the incident but has yet to release findings.
Oñes added that it was not the first time that they found multiple animals dead amid “mysterious” circumstances.
She said in July last year they found 10 fighting cocks dead with missing heads but with no traces of blood near their bodies.
Earlier this month, a series of attacks on cattle also baffled residents in Mahangin, Candijay.
In a span of two weeks, four calves were found dead on different days with bite marks on them.
Authorities have also yet to determine what happened to the calves but suspected that the attacks were carried out by a pack of dogs that lost their food source in the aftermath of Typhoon “Odette.”
The Office of the Provincial Veterinary Office said the stray dogs may have gone hungry after a nearby dumpsite which was their source of food was washed out when the storm hit the province in mid-December. (A. Doydora)